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Steyn Interview: Pace is my big weapon
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Jun 30, 2008, 11:26

Dale Steyn has taken 78 wickets in his last 12 Test matches and is the quickest South African to reach 100 Test victims. Steyn is now leading a new and hungry brigade of pace bowlers in the South Africa team along with Morne Morkel and the more experienced Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel. He is now seen as the team's main spearhead and has already held the number one spot in the world rankings this year to illustrate his meteoric rise. Bigstarcricket caught up with him at Taunton. 

Can you believe how sudden your success has come? From being ranked 32nd in the world a year ago you are now second after briefly topping the rankings.
It’s all happened quickly, but I am aware that although I have had a fantastic season I have to continue this throughout my career to be considered a world great. It was fantastic to be rated number one but that was purely because of numbers (of wickets) and games. My average and number of wickets over an extended period, when I retire, is more important to me. Consistency is a big thing for me. We are in England now and then we go to Australia, after the Champions Trophy and Bangladesh at home, and this is a time where I really have to stand up and be counted. I know I have done well in the past and all that but now coming up against two big teams of world cricket who will be extremely difficult to beat and knock over they are big challenges.

Maybe it’s cynical but some might suggest you have taken some cheap wickets recently against poor Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh sides before India. What would be your reaction to that?
A Test wicket is a Test wicket, they are difficult to get whether they are a batsman or a bowler and I have got all my wickets against probably the lower-ranked teams but this is why I say this season is going to be my true test, when I come up against England and Australia – probably the two best teams in the world at home. This is where I really have to test myself. I know if I do well my team is going to do well and I am ready for the test of my character.

Presumably South Africa’s continued rise up the rankings has pleased you equally?
The most important thing to me is that South Africa are number one in the ODI rankings and are closing on Australia in the Test rankings. The wins in the subcontinent were highlights as we don’t do that very often.

Do you have any special plans for the England batsmen on this tour?
We will talk about match analysis and tactic against each batsman nearer the time but for me I want to keep doing what I have been doing and consistently get five out of six balls in the right area. I want 100 per cent perfection but I don’t think I will ever get that as no cricketer ever has but if you get to 90 per cent you will walk away with a few wickets after a good day. If I do my things well the outcome will look after itself.

What is more important to you in your bowling – pace or movement?
Everybody can bowl the ball 135kmh and put it in the right areas. You can go and get a school kid nowadays to do that. But if anyone can run in and bowl 145 or 150k’s is something special especially if you can swing the ball at the same time. Pace is definitely my biggest weapon but pace combined with the swing is deadly. And we have a few guys who can do that like Makhaya (Ntini) and Morne Morkel. It’s important to me that I am always outwitting the guy next to me and staying a step above those guys because it raises the bar all the time. It’s healthy competition within the team. The more they are pushing the better I have to become so it doesn’t allow you to relax, it means I am always fighting for a spot. I have always got to be better than the guy next to me.

Graeme Smith is trying not to put too much pressure on you by saying he has limited expectations of his young bowlers. Are you confident of having success?
Yeah I am. When I came over for Essex I didn’t have the best season and I made some mistakes but when I came over for Warwickshire I bettered those mistakes. Now I am here for a third time I am hoping to improve on that and I am confident I can because I have had some good success here and have taken five-wicket hauls for Warwickshire in one-day and (four-day) Championship games. I have had some success with the bat here as well.

How did you enjoy your time at Warwickshire last year?
It was a fantastic time and I was able to learn from the mistakes I made when I was at Essex (in 2005). When I got to Warwickshire we had some fantastic players there with Streaky (Heath Streak) and Madds (Darren Maddy), the team gelled together really well while I was there. I noticed things fell apart for them afterwards, though I don’t like saying it like that. But when I was there we didn’t lose a four-day game and lost only one match in the Friends Provident Trophy, which we made the semi-finals in. That defeat against Hampshire was my last game before I had to go to Ireland and join the South Africa team. But Warwickshire were looking good at that time. It was a really nice time as the team was gelling and we were playing well and I did ok individually, which is what is happening now with this South African team. We’ve been winning and guys have done well individually as well.

It sounds like you would be keen to return to Edgbaston?
I would love to go back to Warwickshire one day. They look after you so well there, they made me feel at home. It didn’t matter whether I was from South Africa, Australia or wherever, when I walked into that dressing room I became a Bear immediately. That was the greatest thing about my time there. I almost felt like I didn’t want to go home and ‘this is where I have got to be’. Than you get back into your national colours and know that is where you belong. But that was the feeling I got from them.

Presumably those experiences in county cricket should be a huge help to you on this tour?
I’m going to try and remember everything I did well and not so well in county cricket. I have a little book that I write things down in so I can remind myself of things that didn’t go well and how I can rectify them. The book probably wouldn’t make sense if anyone else opened it, they would probably think it was a recipe for some meal or something! But it all makes sense to me. I carry it around with me everywhere and it has filled up quite nicely in the last year especially after all the time in India.

Are you especially concerned by any of England’s big-name batsmen like Kevin Pietersen, Michael Vaughan or maybe the big-hitting Andrew Flintoff, if fit?
I’m up for a challenge. It doesn’t matter who is batting, whether it is (Andrew) Flintoff or Monty Panesar. A Test wicket is a Test wicket and you have got to value it and work hard for it because these guys don’t just give you their wicket. I’ll work on what I have to do well and once I release the ball it’s out of my control. I play the game not the man.

In terms of your background, were you always a fast bowler?
I was always a fast bowler but I was still very small when I was 18 and in my final year at school. I grew a little after that and got stronger and quicker as a bowler. I always smashed the ball the ball as well.

Pace, though, seems to be the one thing that drives you?
I have always loved bowling quick and especially quicker than the guy next to me. I always like to turn around and have a little peak at the speedo, it would be fantastic to bowl 100mph, but if I can bowl consistently in the rights areas at over 90 mph I will be the happiest man alive. That’s batter than bowling 100mph and not putting the ball in the right place. I would love the recipe of Shaun Pollock’s accuracy with Allan Donald’s speed.

Dale Steyn was speaking to Richard Sydenham / Visit Dale Steyn’s Official Website at www.steyn.bigstarcricket.com

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